Flowers
by VeryBerry96
Summary: Although Hermione and Draco are in the same year at Hogwarts they couldn't be more different. But even though the odds are stacked against them is there a way they could come to understand each other? A series of Dramione one-shots, cute and fluffy. Cover picture by deadevilmodest on tumblr.
1. Acacia

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's my second ever Dramione fanfiction! Just like my last one this fic is for my friend Steph who gave me the idea and asked me to write it. I hope you like it Steph!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or else I would be a very rich person and would live in Japan by now.**

* * *

 **Acacia**

Hermione spun around with excitement, being careful not to trip over the cobblestones. She giggled when she saw how her robes fluttered around her almost like wings as she did and she heard both her parents laugh as they watched how happy she was. Neither of them had seen their daughter this happy in a long time, maybe with the exception being when she got her letter to say she had been accepted into Hogwarts.

Another laugh caught Hermione's attention and she turned to grin at Professor Burbage, a teacher from Hogwarts. When she had arrived at the Granger household that morning she had explained that she taught Muggle Studies at Hogwarts and that she was there to take her and her parents to Diagon Alley so Hermione could buy her school supplies. Hermione's mother and father had been slightly confused when Professor Burbage brought them to the back of an old pub in London which they were fairly certain they had never seen before despite knowing the area very well and Mrs Granger had actually screamed a little bit when the bricks on the wall started to move after the Professor tapped them with her wand, but Hermione didn't say a word, merely standing there with her eyes sparkling and the largest grin on her face her parents had ever seen.

As soon as she had been accepted into Hogwarts Hermione had thrown herself into finding out everything she could about magic. Hogwarts had already sent her some books since she'd shown such eagerness but she still needed her wand, cauldron and the rest of her books. Professor Burbage had also explained she would need to change some of her money into galleons. Professor Burbage had told her that non magic people, such as Hermione's parents, were known as Muggles. She had warned her that a few people in the wizarding world weren't kind to people who were Muggle-born but Hermione wasn't worried; people had always thought she was strange and she now knew this was because she was a witch, so she was fairly confident that other people who were magic would understand her and be much nicer to her than the people at her old school had been.

"So, first thing's first," Professor Burbage said with a smile. "Let's get you a wand!"

Charity Burbage could see Hermione was practically fizzing with excitement. She could already tell that the girl was very clever. Throughout the journey to get here she had chatted away to the Hogwarts professor about how she'd already read _Hogwarts: A History_ cover to cover, how she'd already learn the words and wrist movement of some simple spells which she was determined to try out as soon as she got her wand, and she'd asked every possible question under the sun to do with witches, wizards, magic and Hogwarts, some of which Charity herself didn't know the answer to. She hadn't stopped talking until they reached the Leaky Cauldron but Charity didn't mind, enjoying speaking to the young girl and confident that she would do very well at Hogwarts.

"I get my wand at Ollivanders, right?" Hermione asked, pointing to the shop which bore that name on its sign along with the strapline, 'Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.'.

"That's right," Professor Burbage nodded. "Would your parents like to come in too?"

Hermione looked round at her parents who both glanced at each other. "If you don't mind dear, we would love to come in with you," her mother smiled.

Hermione smiled back at her parents and jumped back to hold both of their hands. "Of course I don't mind you coming in!" she grinned.

Professor Burbage smiled at the Granger family as she held the door to Ollivanders open for them. The first thing Hermione saw was an elderly man with white hair, pale skin and even paler eyes. Something about his eyes made Hermione somehow feel safe with him and slightly afraid of him at the same time. Hermione couldn't even begin to guess how old he was.

"Ah, Miss Granger," the man smiled politely, coming out from behind his desk. "It is a pleasure to meet you." He held out his hand and Hermione shook it. "I am Garrick Ollivander."

"The pleasure is all mine Sir," Hermione smiled, sensing her parents beaming with pride behind her; they had raised her to be very polite, especially to her elders.

"And you must be Mr and Mrs Granger," Ollivander smiled, shaking hands with Hermione's parents. "I imagine you're very proud of your daughter."

"Indeed we are Mr Ollivander," Mr Granger smiled, his wife nodding in agreement.

"Well then Miss Granger, shall we?" Ollivander asked, gesturing back towards his desk.

Hermione nodded and stood in front of the desk while Ollivander went out of sight somewhere to rummage through various boxes. He came back rather quickly and opened a box in front of her. In it was a rather long black wand.

"12 inches, fir wood, Kelpie hair core," Ollivander smiled kindly as he passed the wand to Hermione.

Hermione stood there waiting for something to happen, but when nothing did she decided to try waving it. She did so, aiming it at a pile of papers on the desk. When they all scattered from the desk in a rather violent fashion she immediately put the wand back down on the desk, confident both from Ollivander's reaction and the reaction of the wand itself that this wasn't the wand for her.

Ollivander quickly took the wand back and placed it back in its box before bustling about in the back to look for another one. He was back a few moments later.

"10 inches," he said. "Hawthorn with a unicorn hair core."

When Hermione took hold of this wand she felt something stir inside her. At first she thought maybe it meant this was destined to be her wand but when she waved it, this time at one of the scattered papers on the floor but when the paper scrunched itself into a ball and suddenly caught on fire Hermione once again threw the wand down, Charity quickly using her own wand to extinguish the fire.

"I'm so sorry Sir," Hermione began to apologise but Ollivander held his hand up and just smiled.

"Do not apologise my dear," he said. "It is only natural things like this happen when a wand doesn't choose you."

"Excuse me Mr Ollivander, but what do you mean if a wand doesn't choose her?" Mr Granger asked.

"Put quite simply Mr Granger, the wand chooses the witch or wizard, not the other way around," Ollivander said.

Mr Granger frowned while his wife just shrugged and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't think about it too hard dear. Something tells me we're never going to fully understand magic like our little witch does."

Hermione smiled round at her parents as her mother used the nickname they had ironically been calling her all her life. Every Halloween since she was old enough to go out trick or treating, Hermione had insisted on dressing up as a witch. Sometimes she even wore the outfit during the rest of the year, loving how it made her feel like she could do magic. The nickname of 'little witch' had stuck with her parents and Hermione loved it.

A cough from Ollivander got her attention as he held out yet another wand. This one was a pale brown colour and had looked like it had little wooden veins running down it.

"10¾ inches, made from vine wood with a core of dragon heartstring," Ollivander said with a twinkle in his eye.

Hermione reached out much more cautiously this time but as she did she felt something spark inside of her. It wasn't like the feeling she got when she had been holding the last wand; that had been a kind of warm feeling right in her chest. This was different. It felt like someone had sparked a fire in her stomach. Somehow holding this wand felt right, as if she should have been holding it her whole life. Like she had been missing it her whole life and hadn't realised it until now.

She knew she needed to test it out so she glanced rapidly around the room. Spotting a broken plant pot at the side of the room she stepped towards it, pointing the wand at it.

" _Repairo,_ " she said clearly and confidently with a small smile on her face.

She heard her parents and Professor Burbage gasp as the pieces of the broken plant pot magically fixed themselves back together. She turned back around and grinned at them before looking up at Ollivander who looked very impressed.

"I haven't seen a witch so young with skills like yours in a long while," he smiled. "I do believe your wand has chosen you Miss Granger. Be sure to take care of it."

Hermione's smile couldn't get any wider. "I will Sir."

"Well, that will be eight galleons," Ollivander said, looking up at Hermione's parents.

They both looked round at Professor Burbage with worried looks on their faces. Professor Burbage bit her lip in embarrassment.

"Oh dear… I forgot to take you all to Gringotts first," she sighed before stepping up to the desk and bringing a small purse out from her pocket. "I'll pay for it. After we've changed your muggle money into galleons you can pay me back," she smiled.

"Thank you very much Professor," Hermione smiled with relief, her parents reiterating what she'd just said.

Hermione stepped back from the desk and slipped the wand into the pocket of her robes. She once again began to skip around in glee. She had her wand. She really was a witch.

* * *

Hermione kicked a stone down the street, being careful not to scuff her shoe. Her parents had gone into the wizard bank with Professor Burbage and left her outside to hold onto the bags. After going to buy her wand Professor Burbage had suggested they just went and bought Hermione's books and cauldron and her parents could just pay her back for it all at once. Her parents had agreed and were now in a bank full of goblins. Hermione could only imagine her parent's reaction when they'd walked in the bank and she was slightly disappointed she hadn't seen it herself.

"Psst."

Hermione blinked in confusion and glanced around. She could have sworn she'd heard something.

"Psst."

No, she was sure she'd heard something. She got up from the bench she was sitting on in front of the bank and looked around. She finally spotted the source of the noise; a boy also wearing Hogwarts robes who was standing at the entrance to a small alleyway a few meters away from her. He had bright blonde hair and piercing grey eyes.

"Are you a first year too?" the boy asked, walking up to her with a smile on his face.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah. I'm just here with my parents to buy my school books and stuff."

"Same here, although I had most of my books already. Still needed to get my wand though," the boy said, sitting down on the bench where Hermione had been sitting. "My name's Draco. What's yours?"

"Hermione," she replied, sitting down next to him.

Draco smiled again and held his hand out to her. "Pleasure to meet you Hermione."

Hermione smiled back and shook his hand. "The pleasure is all mine I'm sure Draco."

Draco glanced down at all the bags next to her. "It looks like you've got most of your things by now."

"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "My parents are just in Gringotts right now getting money sorted. I had to stay out to keep an eye on the bags."

"Well you looked just as bored as I felt when I came round the corner," Draco remarked. "Want to go do something?"

Hermione frowned. "Do something? But I need to stay and watch the bags…"

Draco stood up and held his hand out to Hermione. "Nobody will steal them, this is a nice part of the Alley," he said, his tone soft and tempting. "Come on. I know the Alley pretty well. I could show you some places not many people know about."

Hermione glanced down at the bags but found her eyes automatically locking with Draco's, almost feeling a little bit lost when she looked away from them. Hermione normally never broke the rules but she found herself wanting to do what Draco suggested and sneak away. Ignoring the normally dominant logical side of her brain Hermione stretched her hand out and took hold of Draco's. As soon as she did she felt that same warmth in her chest she had felt when she had taken hold of the second wand in Ollivanders. For some reason she felt herself blush so she forced herself to look away from Draco as he gently pulled her to her feet. He grinned at her reaction, although he couldn't deny he'd felt something stirring in the pit of her stomach when this girl locked eyes with him. However Draco was very good at hiding his feelings so he didn't blush or look away like Hermione had. Instead he careful began to lead Hermione down the street, keeping an eye out to make sure neither of his parents spotted him.

* * *

Half an hour later and Draco had decided that Hermione's laugh was the best laugh he'd ever heard. They'd already been to various sweet shops and the joke shop, and now the two of them were sitting in Rosa Lee Teabag, a small teashop-come-café which Draco had been to many times with his mother. It was a nice place which sold butterbeer as well as a wide selection of teas. Draco was stunned to find out Hermione had never tried butterbeer and insisted on buying her first one. He greatly enjoyed the look of delight on her face as she tried it for the first time. He himself ordered a cup of earl grey tea and was sipping it slowly while Hermione tried to force herself not to gulp down her sugary treat.

Hermione set down her glass already half empty and slouched down in her chair with a content sigh. "Now _that_ was delicious."

Draco laughed slightly and set his cup down, leaning forward slightly. "I'm glad you liked it. So, what house are you hoping to get into?"

Hermione sat up properly and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think I'd be happy in any house to be honest. I may get put into Ravenclaw; I'm pretty smart. What about you?"

"Slytherin," Draco answered immediately. "Nearly my whole family has been in Slytherin."

Draco watched Hermione very careful for her reaction. He knew a lot of people were bias against Slytherins but Hermione showed no signs of this. She actually leaned in closer to him.

"Wow! So it's kind of like a family tradition?" she asked.

Hermione, unlike a lot of people who would in her year at school, didn't think it was fair that Slytherins had such a bad reputation. Having read _Hogwarts: A History_ and many other books on wizarding history she knew why a lot of people automatically disliked all Slytherins but she didn't think that was right. Hermione had a very open mind when it came to things like that.

Draco was pleasantly surprised at this and found it very easy to talk to Hermione. They continued to talk about their future life at Hogwarts as first years until they left the teashop.

"Thank you for the butterbeer," Hermione smiled up at Draco.

Draco swallowed heavily before replying, "You're welcome." He looked down and coughed to try and hide the faint blush he could feel rising up in his cheeks.

Even though Draco had been brought up to hide his emotions from other people somehow he just felt incredibly comfortable around this girl he had only just met less than an hour ago. He didn't mind laughing and smiling around her, two things he was not really allowed to do at home much, and he felt a sense of achievement when he made her laugh.

The two of them began to head back towards Gringotts, Hermione saying she should probably get back before her parents started to worry. As they did they walked past Magical Menagerie, the pet store, and Hermione couldn't stop herself from squealing at a cute little ginger kitten in the window.

"Oh I wish I could get him," she sighed.

"What, you're not bringing an animal with you?" Draco asked. "You know we're allowed an owl, cat or toad right?"

"Yeah I know but my parents wouldn't let me," she explained. "They said if I still wanted one in a few years then they would think about it. But something tells me that little guy will be gone by then."

Draco looked at the cat and decided something then and there. His father knew the owner of Magical Menagerie very well and he owed his father a favour or two. Draco vowed to himself there and then that he would make sure that kitten wouldn't be sold until Hermione was allowed to buy it.

Suddenly Draco spotted a very familiar and very angry face emerging from a store across the street from them. Acting on reflex Draco grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her after him into a very narrow lane next to Magical Menagerie to hide.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

Draco put a finger to Hermione's lips to shush her. "It's my father," he whispered. "He's looking for me and I'm not sure I want to be found quite yet."

It wasn't until he looked down at her that Draco realised how close he and Hermione now were. This alleyway was so narrow that the two of them were literally pressed right up against each other. Hermione seemed to realise this at the same time as Draco did and her face turned bright red but she couldn't bring herself to look away from him. His grey eyes met with her brown ones and neither seemed to be able to look away from the other. Without realising what he was doing Draco reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind Hermione's ear. Hermione gasped slightly when his cool hand touched her burning red face but she didn't move away or stop him. Somehow his touch just felt right, almost like taking hold of her wand had done earlier.

A loud crash from outside of the alleyway stole their attention away. Draco sighed slightly before peaking his head out. His father had gone, the crash coming from a flower vendor whose cart had fallen over. Hermione peered out next to him and gasped.

"That's my parents over there!" she exclaimed before biting her lip. "They look really worried…"

Draco didn't turn to look at Hermione's parents. Instead he was still looking at the vendor who was still picking up his flowers. He spotted a small bouquet of yellow flowers and picked it up, dropping some coins into a pot on the cart. He turned back to Hermione and offered her the bouquet.

"Here, for you," he smiled gently. "They're acacia flowers."

Hermione smiled shyly – which Draco couldn't help think was kind of beautiful – as she took the flowers from him. "Thank you Draco," she murmured. "They're lovely."

"Go on, you'd better get back to your parents," he said. "I'll see you at school."

Hermione nodded before looking down slightly, as if she was trying to decide if she should do something. She seemed to make up her mind and before Draco could ask what was going on Hermione gave him a very quick but very real kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for today Draco, I really enjoyed it," she smiled. "I'll see you at school!"

Before Draco could respond Hermione quickly ran towards her parents. Draco slowly raised his hand to his cheek where Hermione had kissed him and he let a smile spread across his face.

As he slipped back into the shadows of the alleyway before anyone else saw him he couldn't help but think that he was really going to enjoy his time at Hogwarts.

* * *

 **AN: I really hope you all enjoyed this! Please review!**


	2. The Bramble and the Sunflower

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, ya'll Dramione shippers are CRAZY.**

 **This was meant to be a one-shot but you all wanted more soooooo you're getting more! It's not going to be a multi-chapter fic per-say… It's more going to be a series of one-shots. Some of them will link to each other and some will just be stand-alones. They will all have two things in common though: cute Dramione fluff and flowers.**

 **The chapters will also vary in length, so some will be as long as the first one, and some will be quite a bit shorter.**

 **Thank you so much to patty cake rocks, Steph, CatAnimagus, DepressedAleera, Suzululu4moe, Sparkle15, NekoDarkHeart and two guest reviewers for reviewing the last chapter.**

 **This chapter is dedicated to Elizabeth Daughter of Apollo, Ilena Petrova, 999, Icelynne, TiaMalfoy1D, WinterRavens25, bhalesfb, jackwriggs, mdasrridan, sillybabypanda, Legolas's Fried Potato, NekoDarkHeart, SabirnaLynn1913, puresteph, Maekitten and Awannabewriter23.**

 **Also puresteph, happy birthday! :-D**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or else I would be a very very rich human.**

* * *

 **The Bramble and the Sunflower**

Draco stalked up and down the library hunting for a specific book on Potions. Being from Slytherin he knew that Snape already favoured him over a lot of his classmates but if failed the next class test he would still get detention. Normally Draco wouldn't care about class tests too much but he knew Snape could quite easily tell his father if he was to fall behind in his class so he needed to do well enough to slip under Snape's raider.

He eventually found the textbook he was looking for. It was one Snape himself had recommended for the class to read. He'd said there were two copies in the library but Draco only saw one. Someone else must have borrowed the other copy, probably a Ravenclaw Draco thought to himself as he picked up the rather heavy textbook and walking over to a table next to a window, setting down the book before sitting down himself.

It was already early evening so most students had gone back to the common rooms after dinner. The first year Potions class was the only one to Draco's knowledge that had a test coming up so the library was fairly empty. Draco had seen a few fourth and fifth years swotting up on their charms work but that was all. It was a chilly November evening so Draco stretched the sleeves of his grey jumper down over his hands, regretting not picking a table next to a fireplace but not feeling up to the task of moving the heavy textbook to the other side of the library.

Opening the book Draco flipped it to the chapter on dragon blood and all its uses, knowing that Snape expected them to be able to list them all by heart, and began to read. He'd hoped that the uses would just be in a simple list but unfortunately for him they were all given about three pages each, all with numerous examples of times when the blood had been used and ideas of situations when the reader could use it.

Draco had had a long day with Potions, Charms, Herbology, Transfiguration _and_ a flying lesson, so he was really tired. He felt his head starting to nod and he gave himself a shake, trying to wake himself up. However he couldn't fight his eyelids which felt as heavy as lead, and without even realising it he had let them close over and fallen asleep.

* * *

Hermione sighed heavily as she skimmed over the book titles on the shelf. She knew for a fact that the Potions textbook Professor Snape had recommended should be here. She'd seen it herself when she'd been here earlier in the day but she'd had to run to her flying lesson before she could take it out. And now she was regretting it.

She knew there was only two copies in the library but she hadn't thought anyone else in her class would be as keen as she was to study for the test so she'd hoped at least one copy would still be there. Concluding that maybe it had been put back in the wrong place Hermione started to scan the other shelves and study desks to see if someone had misplaced it. As she rounded a corner towards the window something caught her eye. She giggled under her breath when she noticed that someone had fallen asleep over one of the tables. Well, she couldn't blame them. Their days at Hogwarts were very busy with classes and plus it was nice and quiet in the library. Hermione's laughter turned to a smile as she tiptoed over to see who it was that had fallen asleep. Her smile quickly fell when she realised who it was and she backed away slightly.

Draco Malfoy.

Hermione's hands automatically turned to tight fists when her eye fell on the Slytherin. When she had met him in Diagon Alley before the year started she had hoped she had found a friend before she had even arrived at the school. She had even given him the benefit of the doubt when he'd said he was sure he'd be sorted into Slytherin. She knew that Slytherins had a reputation at Hogwarts – and not a very good one at that – but Hermione didn't want to label Draco before she knew him.

But ever since Draco had found out that Hermione was a muggle-born he hadn't spoken to her. Whenever he was around his friends he would make a show of glaring at her or turning his nose up at her. If they ran into each other in the hallway and nobody else was around sometimes he would glance at her but quickly look away again, scurrying off as if he was ashamed to be around her. It was horrible and Hermione hated it. She'd hoped when she came to Hogwarts that she wouldn't have to deal with bullies anymore but it was just like when she was at her normal school before Hogwarts. Her Gryffindor classmates laughed at her for being top of the class and the Slytherins all acted like she was beneath them. She liked hanging around with the other Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff girls in her year sometimes but she couldn't go back to their common rooms with them, so a lot of the time she was stuck on her own. Harry Potter was usually quite kind to her, and although Ronald Weasley could be an idiot Hermione could tell he was a good person. She'd quite like to spend more time with the two of them.

But even with all that she couldn't help but wish that Draco would be kinder to her. She'd loved running around Diagon Alley with him, and she hated that something like her lineage would make him despise her.

Glancing down at the book next to Draco, Hermione realised it was the very book she had been looking for. She was surprised that Draco was studying for the test since he was a Slytherin and therefore Professor Snape would probably give him a good grade regardless, but she remembered hearing something about Draco's parents being quite close to Snape. Draco probably still needed to get good grades to appease his parents Hermione concluded.

Hermione glanced around her. There wasn't anyone else in this part of the library, and the rest of it was fairly quiet too. Draco was sitting at the short end of the table, next to the wall. There was an empty seat around the corner of the table next to him where Hermione would be able to clearly see the textbook without having to move the book. She bit her lip. She really did need to study for this test, but if Draco were to wake up he would probably just start shouting abuse at her, then she would get upset and embarrassed which would give him even more things to laugh at her for. Hermione decided to chance it, knowing that if she tried to move the book she had a greater chance of waking Draco up. She would just have to hope he didn't wake up as she was reading. Having made up her mind she sat down, pulled out some paper, her quill and ink and began to take notes out of the book. She smiled slightly as she realised Draco had been reading about the uses of dragon blood. Funny…that was exactly what she had planned on studying.

* * *

Draco's eyes blinked open slowly. He felt like someone had nudged him… Opening his eyes fully he saw someone sitting next to him, their head bent over notes they were copying from the Potions textbook he had borrowed. Draco didn't move, just watching this person, shutting one of his eyes when they looked over at the book so they wouldn't realise he was awake. He felt his heartbeat speed up slightly when he realised it was Hermione Granger.

Whenever Draco saw Hermione two things flashed through his mind. The first thing was always the moment in Diagon Alley where they had been so close to each other that if Draco had leaned down just a tiny bit he would have been able to kiss her, but as soon as that happened another thought rushed into his head; Hermione Granger was a Muggle-born.

He'd found out pretty early on in the school year about Hermione having Muggle parents. A girl in his year, Pansy Parkinson, was a bit of a gossip and had discovered this about Hermione and quickly spread it around the Slytherin common room. Most of it was fuelled by jealously that a Muggle-born was getting better grades than the pure-bloods but also because most of them, Draco included, had been brought up to see themselves as better than Muggles and Muggle-born witches and wizards in every way.

But Hermione…she was different in Draco's eyes. He'd been warned by his mother that people may automatically hate him if he was sorted into Slytherin and he did understand why. That was why he was so pleasantly surprised when Hermione hadn't ran away from him or yelled something cutting when he'd said he was going to be sorted into Slytherin. Hermione's name had been the first one to be called at the sorting ceremony before he had known about her being a Muggle-born. He'd been silently hoping she too would be sorted into Slytherin but when the Sorting Hat called out the name of Gryffindor he had felt his heart sink slightly. However when he had indeed been sorted into Slytherin he had been able to catch her eye at the Gryffindor table. She'd smiled at him and given him a thumbs-up. That had been the last good interaction he had been able to have with Hermione. Whenever he was around his friends, particularly Crabbe and Goyle, he had to act tough like his father expected, knowing that the two of them would inform their parents if Draco acted unbecoming of a Malfoy, and they in turn would inform his father. If that happened then he would be in for a world of pain.

But sitting here, watching Hermione as she studied with that serious concentration look on her face Draco couldn't help but wonder if his father was wrong. Were Muggle-borns really so bad? Hermione was kind, smart, funny, sweet and - Merlin help him for thinking this - she was also very pretty.

Draco knew his father was never wrong. But…he was beginning to think that maybe he was mistaken about Muggle-borns.

Just as Draco was thinking about this Hermione's eye flew to his. Realising that Draco was awake and was watching her Hermione's face turned bright red. She stood in a hurry, gathering up her things and shoving the book towards Draco. The book hit Draco in the face and as he rubbed his nose Hermione turned to leave.

"Granger, wait," Draco hissed, unwilling to be caught calling out to her loudly in case someone heard.

Hermione stopped and turned her head back to look at him, her face still red in embarrassment.

"Well…" Draco looked down, embarrassed himself now. "We…we might as well both use the book to study since there isn't another one here. Everyone's in the common rooms so it's not like anybody is going to see us. It's just out of convenience after all."

Hermione swallowed heavily but after a few moments of silence she nodded, walking back to the table and putting her notes and ink back down. "…It is convenient I suppose," she murmured and she sat down, trying to hide a smile that she was able to study with Draco. Draco himself did spot the small grin on the Gryffindor's face but didn't comment on it.

Borrowing some parchment from Hermione, both first years read the textbook and took notes in silence, the only words passing between them being when one asked the other if it was okay to turn the page over. While they were doing this Draco kept stealing glances at Hermione without her noticing. He found that he loved the way she would frown in concentration and how she would grumble to herself under her breath if she made an ink-blot or accidently copied something down wrong. Draco had to stop himself from chuckling whenever she did that.

However what Draco didn't know was the Hermione was doing the same thing when Draco wasn't looking. She kept glancing up at the Slytherin and smiling whenever he would start to gaze out the window, as if he was daydreaming. Then he'd catch himself and blink very quickly in confusion before shaking his head slightly and going back to copying notes. Hermione couldn't help but think that he was rather cute when he did that. She quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head, knowing it was pointless to think of Draco Malfoy like that. Hermione began to catch herself yawning and dug her nails into her hands in an attempt to keep herself awake.

They'd been copying notes for around half an hour when Draco realised he was running out of ink. Without saying anything to Hermione he got up and went over to the librarian's desk to ask for a refill. When he came back he came to a stop just as their table came into view. Hermione was slumped over the table leaning on her arms. She was breathing deeply and her mouth was slightly open, that little frown of concentration finally gone from her forehead. Draco smiled softly as he put the ink pot back down on the table and quietly pulled his chair closer to Hermione. Some of her hair had fallen in front of her face and Draco carefully brushed it back behind her ear, very aware that he was mirroring what he'd done back in Diagon Alley at the start of the year.

Hermione moved slightly and Draco jumped back, afraid that he'd woken her up but he realised she was just shivering. Frowning in concern Draco automatically pulled his grey jumper off and draped it over Hermione's shoulders. Her shiver stopped and she wiggled slightly as if she was trying to snuggle down underneath it. Draco smiled before gather up his things and leaving the library.

He stopped just before he left and turned back to look at her, still sound asleep. Leaving his notes and quill on a little table at the door Draco walked back to Hermione and pulled out his wand. Murmuring under his breath he conjured up a small sprig of a bramble plant – minus the spikes on the branch – and left it next to Hermione, its little pink and white flowers seeming to shimmer slightly in the dying light of the evening. Smiling one last time at her Draco gathered up his things once again and left the library, only missing Hermione waking up and smiling at his little present by a few minutes.

The next day Draco trudged into Potions. Even though Snape favoured him and the other Slytherin students over the rest of the class he still didn't really enjoy Potions, except when Snape yelled at Potter or Weasley; that was always quite entertaining.

"Oi, Draco," Goyle called out, pointing at Draco's seat. "Someone's left something here."

Draco frowned, walking over to his seat before he stopped short, his eyes wide. His grey jumper was there folded up with a single flower sitting on top. Picking it up and looking at it Draco began to smile when he realised it was a dwarf sunflower. He glanced over at Hermione's seat and she was looking over at him. When their eyes met she smiled slightly before turning back round to talk to Potter whom she sat next to.

"A flower?" Goyle frowned, leaning over to Draco. "Who's it from?"

Draco shrugged. "No idea. Don't care anyway," he said as he carefully put the jumper and flower in his bag.

Even with Snape droning on about how everyone needed to study for the test coming on before springing a mini five-question test on them as a very unpleasant surprise to scare them all into actually revising, Draco found it very difficult to stop smiling for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

 **AN: I hope you all enjoyed this! Please review!**


	3. Peony

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm so sorry this has taken so long to update! I havn't had wifi for nearly three weeks now so I've not been able to post for any of my fics. We** _ **finally**_ **got wifi today though so FANFICTION, I'M BACK BABY!**

 **Thank you to NekoDarkHeart, puresteph, characetsworld6891, Neakco and Guest for reviewing the last chapter!**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I've really been looking forward to writing it, but it gets pretty dark towards the end which I didn't even really plan on… I'm not sure what you guys will think of it but please review and let me know!**

 **I should probably warn you all that the end of this chapter does reference child abuse.**

 **This chapter is dedicated to Miss Lovebad, dancerengland, laeela, hoshiakari7, RHCP Addict, nijamuzen, Neakco and tkm8949.**

* * *

 **Peony**

Draco glanced nervously around Flourish and Blotts, praying that his father wouldn't come around the corner. The shop was packed due to Gilderoy Lockheart doing a book signing and Draco was extremely grateful that nobody would notice him sneaking around because of this.

He was looking for a book. One very specific book. That shouldn't have been too difficult considering he was in one of – if not the – biggest bookshop in wizarding London, but he wasn't looking for this book so he could buy it. It wasn't a school book nor was it one he wanted to read for pleasure. If he didn't find this book then someone may die. And Draco was finding it very difficult to stop his hands from shaking slightly as he ran his fingers across the spines of the books.

Draco had heard things over the holidays. He knew the only reason his father hadn't told him about the plans in the works for Hogwarts was because his mother wanted him to stay out of any business to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for as long as possible, so all he had heard was from whispering when his parents didn't know he was outside the door. As such he didn't know all the details, but from the words "Chamber of Secrets" and "basilisk" he could figure it out.

Draco knew the legend of the Chamber as his mother had told him it as a child, but the one thing he didn't know was who the Heir of Slytherin was, only that his father was certain that they would be appearing at Hogwarts this year. And if that was true, if the Chamber was opened and the monster unleashed, then a huge chunk of the pupils at Hogwarts would be in danger.

Draco truly didn't care about the majority of the Muggle-borns at his school. His parents had brought him up with the idea that pure-blood wizarding families were above all others, especially Muggle-borns.

But there was one girl. Only one person who had ever made Draco question that belief which he held so firmly.

Hermione Granger.

He knew that Hermione was in Flourish and Blotts as he'd seen her run out of the shop a few minutes ago before re-entering with Harry Potter following behind her. It surprised Draco how much Hermione had changed in just a couple of months, but he forced himself not to stare after her as she weaved in and out of the crowds of people dragging Potter behind her and went back to glancing at as many spines of books as he could as fast as he could.

After a few minutes, during which there was a great uproar in the shop below him when Lockheart spotted Potter in the crowd and made a big fuss over him like everyone always did, Draco found the book he'd been looking for so desperately. Looking over his shoulder once more out of paranoia he quickly grabbed the book and leafed through its pages, having to double back when he spotted a small illustration of a basilisk. Letting his eyes dart over the page he saw the information he needed. Spiders flee before it, its gaze will kill, the crowing of a rooster can kill it… This was it. Now he just needed to find a way to get the page to Hermione without anyone – Hermione included – noticing.

With one last glance around to make sure nobody was looking Draco quickly tore the page out of the book and put the book back where he found it. As he did he spotted Potter, Hermione and the Weasley brood walking towards the door, and out of the corner of his eye he could see the imposing figure of his father about to march into the store. Seeing an ideal opportunity to make sure his father didn't suspect a thing he quickly ran down the stairs and blocked his fellow second years from leaving the store.

"I'll bet you loved that, didn't you Potter?" Draco sneered, referring to everyone shrieking about Harry Potter and Gilderoy Lockheart being in the same building. "Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Leave him alone."

Draco glanced down and saw the only daughter among the Weasley gaggle glaring up at him.

"Look Potter," Draco chuckled. "You've got yourself a girlfriend."

Just as he said this he felt a thud on his shoulder and heard a very familiar voice in his ear.

"Now now Draco, play nicely," Lucius Malfoy murmured in his ear.

Draco sighed slightly but moved out of the way, quickly stuffing the ripped page into the pocket of his robe. What he didn't see were Hermione's sharp eyes following the movement.

"Mr Potter," Lucius smiled slightly. "Lucius Malfoy. We meet at last." He held his hand out to Harry and Harry shook it with a very stony look on his face before Lucius pulled him forward. "Forgive me," he muttered as he used his cane to move Harry's fringe out of the way so he could see his scar. "Your scar is legend. As, of course, is the wizard who gave it to you."

"Voldemort killed my parents," Harry glared at Lucius, stepping back from him. "He was nothing more than a murderer."

Draco's eyes flew to those of his father. He knew Lucius wouldn't take well to the Dark Lord being called 'nothing more than a murderer.'

Sure enough, Lucius was quiet for a few moments before speaking up again. "You must be very brave to mention his name," he said, plastering a very fake smile on his face. "Or very foolish."

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," Hermione spoke up, causing Lucius to look over at her and Draco to flinch.

"And you must be… Miss Granger," Lucius said, glancing at Draco for confirmation. Draco nodded once before looking back down. "Yes, Draco's told me all about you. And your parents."

Hermione frowned and looked back at where her mother and father were talking to Mr Weasley.

"Muggles, aren't they?" Lucius asked with a smirk.

Draco swallowed heavily, silently praying his father wouldn't use the other M-word to describe Hermione. Even though with any other Muggle-born he wouldn't have cared but Hermione was a different case.

Then Lucius began to mock the Weasley family and Draco saw his opportunity. With everyone's eyes on his father Draco carefully took the ripped page out of his pocket and slipped it into Hermione's robe. Hermione didn't react so Draco allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

Draco had tuned out what his father was saying but he spotted him dropping a few books into the Weasley girl's cauldron. Draco frowned. He'd seen one of those books – a black one - at Malfoy Manor during the holidays but he didn't know what it was, only that it wasn't a textbook for school. He also noticed that at some point Mr Weasley had appeared next to them and was now speaking to Lucius.

"And I thought your family could sink no lower," Lucius was practically hissing at Mr Weasley.

Draco saw Mr Weasley's jaw clench but he quickly relaxed his face and smiled round at his children, presumably to assure them he was okay, before looking back at Lucius.

"I'll see you at work," Lucius said shortly to Mr Weasley before motioning for Draco to follow him.

Draco nodded before glancing round at his classmates. "See you at school," he said to them all in the most unfriendly way he could muster.

Just before he left the bookshop Draco allowed himself one last quick glance at Hermione. He frowned when he saw that her hand clamped over her pocket and she was looking right at him. When she made eye contact with him however she quickly looked away and started talking to one of the Weasley twins. Draco looked down in confusion before quickly following after his father, hoping that what he'd done would keep Hermione safe.

* * *

Draco Malfoy hated himself. He'd never known he could hate anyone as much as he hated himself right now. He'd thought sneaking the torn out page to Hermione would be enough to make sure she was safe but he'd been wrong. Now she was lying petrified in the hospital wing and there was nothing he could do about it.

Draco stopped at the end of the corridor and peaked around the corner, the door to the hospital wing within sight. He couldn't hear or see anyone else so he pulled his robe closer around him and hurried down the corridor. Pulling out his wand he pointed it at the locked door, muttering " _Alohomora,_ " under his breath. He heard the bolt slide over and slowly pushed the door open.

Peaking his head around the door Draco was relieved to see that Madame Pomfrey was nowhere in sight. He could see the other students who had been petrified lying on various hospital beds, but he spotted Hermione on the furthest bed. Keeping glancing around just in case anyone else was here Draco came to a stop next to the young Gryffindor girl. He lowered his hood and clenched his fists. Draco never cried but he was seriously feeling like he was about to.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured, slowly reaching out and resting his hand on Hermione's forehead, stroking it gently with his thumb. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to warn you properly. I'm sorry I called you a Mudblood. I'm sorry for everything."

Draco took a few deep breaths just to ensure he wasn't going to cry and embarrass himself before looking at Hermione's strange position. One of her arms was out and her hand was clenched like she had been holding something, her eyes positioned as if she had been staring at whatever she had been holding. Her other had was clenched at her side. Taking a closer look at her clenched fist Draco spotted a scrap of paper held tightly in her hand. He didn't even need to pry the paper away from her to know what it was. Draco's eyes widened as he realised it was the page he'd torn out of the book at Flourish and Blotts.

Looking around where Hermione was laying Draco spotted a mirror on the small table next to the bed. A quick glance was all it took for Draco to figure out that was probably what she'd been holding in her other hand.

Draco felt his heart speed up as he realised what this all must mean. Hermione had found the paper he'd sneaked to her and had realised there was a basilisk in the school. She must have used the mirror to look around corners to check and see if it was coming so she didn't look at it directly in the eye. If she hadn't had that mirror…she would be dead.

The fact that the scrap of paper Draco had slipped into Hermione's pocket had potentially saved her life began to dawn on Draco and he found himself smiling slightly. He knew from Herbology class that Professor Sprout was growing more than enough mandrake plants to revive everyone who had been petrified once they were fully grown. Hermione was going to be okay.

Pulling his wand out one last time Draco generated a small bunch of pink peony flowers and left them on the table next to the mirror before he slowly leant down and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. With a final glance at her frozen form Draco fled from the hospital wing and dashed back to the Slytherin common room.

* * *

Draco grimaced as he felt the cane come down on his back, but he refused to cry out. He was stronger than that. He wouldn't cry or scream or beg for his father to stop. His mother was already doing that job for him and Draco knew exactly why his father was beating him.

A huge weight had been lifted from Draco's chest when he had seen Hermione come running into the Great Hall at the end of term feast, especially when he realised she was clutching the peony flowers he'd left for her. Draco had seen her look at Potter and Weasley in turn before frowning and slowly glancing over at the Slytherin table. The two of them had locked eyes for a moment before Hermione smiled ever so slightly, but the Dumbledore had begun to speak so their attention was stolen away. Hermione hadn't looked at Draco for the rest of the night.

And somehow his father knew Draco was the reason no Muggle-borns had died. Of course the water on the floor, the camera and the ghost had been nothing to do with Draco, but no book in the Hogwarts library spoke of a basilisk. Lucius had made sure of that. The only way Hermione could have survived this term with merely being petrified was if someone had told her about the basilisk or had somehow slipped her the information, and as Lucius was convinced nobody else in the school could have known about it Draco was now being beaten.

Draco could feel the flesh on his back breaking and the blood trickling down to the floor, but his father didn't stop. It wasn't until his mother's sobs were so loud that they were the only sound he could hear did he suddenly turn and leave the room. As soon as he did Narcissa dropped to her knees and held her son close.

"Please, don't anger your father again," she sobbed into his ear. "No matter what he asks you to do from now on please do as he asks, I beg of you. Do not make me witness my son going through that again."

Draco managed to nod, tears stinging his eyes. "I promise mother. I promise."

* * *

 **AN: Please review this chapter and let me know what you think!**


	4. Rosemary

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to hoshiakari7, obsessedteenagefangirl, Neakco and daswhoiam for reviewing the last chapter.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please review!**

 **This chapter is dedicated to obsessedteenagefangirl, J.44, Dino97, bjuarez60, Sora Loves Rain, SereniteRose and AngelOfDarkness505.**

* * *

 **Rosemary**

Draco slumped slightly as he walked around Diagon Alley carrying the large pile of books he would need for his third year at Hogwarts. Ever since his father had inadvertently freed Dobby at the end of the previous school year Draco had discovered just how much he had relied on the house elf for menial tasks such as carrying heavy things for him. Not that the books were too heavy for Draco, he just felt like this kind of thing was beneath him.

The past few months had not been the best summer for Draco. After Lucius had realised Draco must have slipped Hermione Granger some sort of information to stop her from being killed by the basilisk he had beaten his only child without mercy. Narcissa was the only one who was able to somewhat control Lucius so he hadn't spent the whole summer caning Draco, but he had been ordered to spend the entire summer locked in either his room or his father's study if Lucius wanted to keep a closer eye on him. Any trust between father and son had been lost the moment that Draco had torn that page about the basilisk out of the book in Flourish and Blotts, and it was only just beginning to reform.

Draco had been surprised when Lucius had trusted him enough to let him go to Diagon Alley without supervision, but he wasn't complaining. He knew that his father wouldn't be happy if he stayed for longer than he had to, so with that in mind he straightened up and picked up the pace. He'd already bought his school books but he'd outgrown his old Quidditch robes over the summer and needed to be fitted for new ones.

As he headed for Madam Malkin's he heard a very familiar voice laughing somewhere behind him. Without thinking about it he ducked into a small alleyway before peaking back around. Sure enough there was Hermione Granger walking around and laughing with her Muggle parents.

Draco swallowed nervously as he watched. He couldn't stop the relief he felt from swelling up inside of him. Even though Hermione had been brought round with no problems after she had been petrified Draco had been terrified over the summer that something else may have happened to her. Of course he would never admit this to anyone, especially not to Hermione herself. Draco knew he would have to be especially cruel to Hermione this year in order to satisfy his father and the thought made Draco's heart sink.

As Hermione and her parents passed by Draco's hiding place Draco had to clench his fists and not look at her in order to stop himself from running out and calling after her. Once he was sure she had gone he let out a breath he didn't even realise he had been holding and gave himself a shake.

"Stop it," he hissed to himself. "Stop thinking about her. Stop it."

After taking a few deep breaths to clear his head Draco stepped back out into the main street of Diagon Alley and continued on his way to Madam Malkin's.

* * *

Draco emerged around an hour later with his brand new Slytherin House Quidditch robes folded up in the same bag as his textbooks as he headed back towards Knockturn Alley to meet his father. Before he reached there however he passed by Magical Menagerie. He stopped walking and glanced in to the window, a small smile forming on his face as he recognised one of the animals in there.

The ginger cat that Hermione had spotted when she and Draco had been running around Diagon Alley before their first year was still there. He'd meant to convince his father to ensure the cat wasn't sold until Hermione was allowed to buy it but he'd completely forgotten with everything that had happened during his time at Hogwarts so far. Thankfully it seemed like he hadn't had to do that anyway as the cat was still there, staring at Draco cautiously with its bright green eyes.

In that moment Draco made a decision, and simply hoped his father would never find out. His mind made up he walked into Magical Menagerie.

* * *

Draco managed to find the inn Hermione was staying in without much difficulty. There were only two problems. For one, she was surrounded by the Weasley gaggle, and two, the damn cat wouldn't stop squirming in his arms. He had one hand clamped firmly over its mouth to stop it from making any noise but it was now trying to claw its way free.

Draco had hoped he could give the cat to Hermione in person but he couldn't now that the Wealseys were all there. Sighing heavily he placed the cat down in the floor and gave it a little shove with his foot in Hermione's direction before he rid back behind the corner. The cat gave a little angry mew at the gentle kick which gained Hermione's attention.

"It's a cat!" she practically squeaked before bending down and scooping the ginger puffball up into her arms.

"What's that around its neck?" Fred asked, coming over the scratch the cat behind the ears.

"Looks like a rosemary flower," Hermione replied, untying the small lilac flower from the thin collar around the cat's neck.

"There's a tag on the collar," Ron pointed out. "It must have run away from someone."

Hermione turned over the tag and gasped. "It…it says my name on it!"

"Huh?" the Weasleys cried out before they gathered around her.

"Look, right there! Hermione Jean Granger," Hermione showed them. "He's…he's mine!"

"How does that work?" Ron frowned.

Hermione shrugged. "I have no idea but I'm not complaining! I'm going to call him Crookshanks."

Ginny was beaming from ear to ear. "Let's go tell mum!" she grinned before running off.

"Ginny! Don't just run away! We're responsible for you!" George called out, the twins and Ron running after her while Hermione stood where she was planting little kisses on the cat's head.

Draco smiled to himself, still hiding behind the corner. He was happy that Hermione liked the cat and that she'd gotten the rosemary flower, even though he couldn't ever tell her that it was him who bought it for her. Draco hoped he could cope knowing this was the last kind act he would probably ever be able to do for her.

"Thank you Draco."

Draco's heart stopped when he heard Hermione speak again. It had been so quiet that he could have imagined it but somehow he knew he hadn't. He wanted more than anything to walk round the corner to see her but he couldn't bring himself to move. As he heard Hermione's footsteps as she walked away he relaxed slightly before mentally kicking himself for being too scared to face her. But as he stood there getting his breath back he began to smile, finding himself happy that Hermione knew the cat had been from him.

As he left the inn and walked back to Knockturn Alley, Lucius frowned at the happy smile on his son's face, but Draco found that he didn't care at that moment what his father thought. All memories of the painful summer that had just passed were, for a while, forgotten thanks to the thoughts of Hermione's smiling face.

* * *

 **AN: Hope you enjoyed this! Please review!**


	5. Tulip

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I AM SO SO SO SO SOOOOOO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! A lot of stuff happened in my private life in not a lot of time and I have had absolutely no time for writing any of my fanfiction and I hate that. I am so sorry; please don't all hate me!**

 **I hope this chapter can somehow make up for it.**

 **Thank you to hoshiakari7, daswhoiam, obsessedteenagefangirl and puresteph for reviewing the last chapter.**

 **This chapter is dedicated to Aawara, Doll482223, Im The Ace Of Hearts, PaRaM0rE-0394, SusyQ, f3y-chan, jolipanda, fikesgirl, supzoey, KiyiyaTheHowlingWolf and Mistyfur of ThunderClan.**

* * *

 **Tulip**

Draco trudged through the forest with Crabbe on one side of him and Goyle on the other, his Care of Magical Creatures book wriggling slightly under his arm. He was actually rather looking forward to this class but of course he would never let anybody know that. Back in his first year although he had been terrified to go into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night for detention, he had been quite excited at the prospect of seeing a unicorn. Creatures like mermaids, dragons and unicorns had always fascinated Draco, although his rather over-protective mother had never allowed him to see any of them first-hand. The dead unicorn he'd seen You Know Who drinking from was the first time he'd seen any sort of magical creature in the flesh. His room back at Malfoy Manor was filled with all sorts of books about a plethora of different creatures and he would read through them to his heart's content during the holidays, wondering what it would be like to fly through the sky on a hippogriff or make friends with one of the mermaids in the Black Lake.

The only thing that made Draco slightly dread this class was the fact that Hagrid was taking it. If it had been Professor Kettleburn then he would have been completely fine, but as it was Hagrid was always going to be biased towards the Gryffindors, especially Potter, Weasley and Hermione, which meant if there was the opportunity for anything exciting to happen, one of the three of them would be Hagrid's first choice.

A few minutes into the lesson and Draco was proved correct. Hagrid brought out a hippogriff called Buckbeak and invited Harry to try and pet him. Draco hung back behind everyone, pretending he wasn't bothered when in reality he was seething with jealousy. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed someone looking at him. He and Hermione locked eyes for a moment before she quickly looked back round at Harry bowing to the hippogriff.

Hermione had looked confused, and Draco was fairly certain he knew why. Draco and his friends had no issue about teasing Harry about his encounter with a Dementor on the train to school a few days earlier, but even though she had been right next to Potter defending him, Draco hadn't said a word to Hermione, cruel or otherwise. Every time he saw her he still felt a pang of guilt for calling her a Mudblood the year before, even if he had helped save her from the basilisk and bought her a cat.

Draco was snapped out of his daydream when his classmates all started shrieking. Jerking his head round to stare at Harry now on the back of the hippogriff he grunted slightly under his breath. Of course Hagrid would let _Potter_ ride Buckbeak. It wouldn't surprise him if nobody else was allowed a go.

Although annoyed, Draco watched Harry along with the rest of the class as they flew over the grounds of Hogwarts and landed back down in front of them. While the rest of the class applauded as Hagrid helped Harry down, Draco – due to a mix of jealousy, annoyance and an attempt to impress his friends – walked right up to the hippogriff despite Hagrid's calls for him to stop.

"You're not dangerous at all, are you?" he called out to Buckbeak as he walked forward to stand in front of the hippogriff. "You great ugly brute."

Buckbeak locked eyes with Draco and in that moment Draco knew he'd made a mistake. Buckbeak reared up on his hind legs before stomping down on Draco, his hoof clipping Draco's right arm when he raised it to cover his face, the shock sending him tumbling to the ground.

While Hagrid moved forward to calm Buckbeak down, Draco could hear the rest of his classmates screaming in fear of the hippogriff. When Draco saw Hagrid throwing a dead ferret away from Buckbeak to follow he decided to start up the drama. The truth was his arm was in a lot of pain but even with that, mostly due to the fact he really didn't like Hagrid, he made up his mind to make him feel like a terrible teacher.

"It's killed me!" he cried out, scrunching his face up in pain. "It's killed me!"

Hagrid's face was a picture of confusion, worry and helplessness. "Calm down; it's just a scratch!" he insisted, trying to avoid looking at the blood that was now beginning to stain Draco's robe.

"Hagrid!"

Draco stopped squirming and moved his head round to see that Hermione had run forward from where the rest of the class, including Draco's friends, were cowering behind the tree line out of fear of Buckbeak. Hermione looked down at Draco, seeming genuinely worried, before she looked back up at Hagrid. "He has to be taken to the hospital."

Hagrid nodded. "I'm the teacher. I'll do it," he said as he picked Draco up off the floor and began to carry him back towards the school.

"You're going to regret this," Draco promised Hagrid, glaring at him. "You and your bloody chicken."

Hagrid ignored this so Draco glanced back over his shoulder to see Hermione still watching after them with worry burning in her eyes.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey had told Draco he was going to be fine but still allowed him to stay in the hospital wing overnight just as a safety precaution. This surprised Draco who had been fairly certain she would insist nothing was really wrong with him and just send him on his way.

Lying in the hospital bed all alone in the middle of the night however was turning out to be very boring. There were no other patients around and the ghosts never tended to come into the hospital wing; apparently they were all slightly scared of Madam Pomfrey.

Suddenly however he heard the door creaking open. Initially thinking it was Madam Pomfrey herself coming to check on him Draco rolled over and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep so she wouldn't scold him. But after the sound of footsteps went away he heard a whispering next to him.

"Draco? Are you awake?"

Draco's eyes shot open to see Hermione standing over him with the same worried look on her face she'd had earlier that day in the forest.

"Hermione? What are you doing here?" he asked, sitting up.

Glancing down he smiled to see that she was clutching a small bunch of pink tulips. Hermione blushed slightly when she saw what Draco was staring at and she set the flowers down on the bedside table.

"I just wanted to check if you were okay," she admitted quietly. "When I didn't see you at dinner I got worried."

Draco's own cheeks flushed slightly red at the idea that Hermione had been looking for him to dinner, but he quickly calmed himself back down. "Well yes, I'm okay. Madam Pomfrey said that the gash on my arm wasn't that deep even though it looked like I lost a lot of blood. The bone in my arm did get chipped though, so she wants me to wear a wrist brace just in case for a little while." Draco grinned to try and lighten the mood. "Though of course I'll be milking it for all it's worth to get out of doing homework."

Hermione giggled slightly causing Draco to smile even more. "Of course you are. I wouldn't expect anything else to be honest."

Draco laughed in response before stopping suddenly, memories of his father's cruel punishment last summer coming flooding back. No, he couldn't be friendly with Hermione. If his father heard about this he would be beaten even worse than last time and he couldn't do that to his mother again.

As such Draco quickly looked down and away from Hermione. "I want you to leave now."

"No."

Such a quick response made Draco's eyes fly up to meet with Hermione's.

"I'm not leaving Draco," Hermione insisted. "You've been acting really strange ever since we arrived. You've had ample opportunities to bully me and you haven't done it once. And I know about Crookshanks."

The last one made Draco look down again in embarrassment. He had been fairly certain Hermione knew he had been the one who had gotten her the cat but he never thought they would actually talk about it.

"So cut the crap Draco," Hermione said. "What's going on?"

"We can't be friends, alright?" Draco yelled, cutting Hermione off before she could say anything else.

Draco's voice echoed around the room. Once silence fell again Hermione spoke up once more.

"Why not? Cause I'm a Gryffindor? Cause I'm a Muggle-born?"

Draco nodded slowly. "Because you're a Muggle-born, but it's not my decision," he replied, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "It's my father. He would kill me."

On reflex Draco's hand moved to his back as he ran his fingers gently over the scars which would probably never fully go away.

But of course Hermione's sharp eyes noticed.

"Take your shirt off."

Draco's eyes widened in shock. "Um, _what_?!" he spluttered.

"Take your shirt off," she repeated, her eyes not showing any hints of joking around.

Draco's eyes met with hers again and he sighed slightly before proceeding to unbutton his night shirt. He slowly allowed it to fall off his shoulders, grateful that none of his father's damage was visible from the front. Draco did however notice Hermione's eyes quickly running down his toned body before she swallowed slightly and locked eyes with him again. "Turn around," she said, much softer this time.

Draco's body tensed up but he knew he'd come too far to refuse her now; saying no would just confirm he had something to hide anyway so he may as well show her. Slowly twisting himself around he came to a stop with his back facing Hermione, still sitting on his hospital bed with his head hanging low in shame.

"Draco…" Hermione murmured softly before she gently ran her fingers over the scars. Draco jerked at the suddenness of it and Hermione quickly retracted her hand, thinking she'd hurt him. "I'm sorry!" she squeaked.

Draco looked over his shoulder at her and shook his head. "No, it didn't hurt, don't worry. I just…wasn't expecting it, that's all."

Hermione nodded slowly and reached her hand back out, softly caressing the scars all over his back. Draco kept his head where it was so he could watch her, touched at the tenderness and worry in her face.

"…Did your father do this because of me?" Hermione asked quietly.

Draco turned back around and put his shirt back on. "Not exactly. He did it because I helped you."

"The page about the basilisk…" Hermione sighed. "I can't believe he would do this. Doesn't your father love you?"

Draco shrugged. "He does…but he isn't very forthcoming about showing it. My mother begged him to stop but she doesn't exactly have much control in our house."

"We should tell someone-"

"No!" Draco yelled, causing Hermione to jump back. "I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell, but you can't tell anyone. Please Hermione, I'm begging you. You can't tell anyone."

Hermione didn't look happy about this but she nodded slowly. "Okay, I promise I won't tell anybody. And…this is why you say we can't be friends?" She asked. "Because if your father finds out this will happen again?"

Draco nodded. "I can take it, but I can't put my mother through that again."

Hermione cracked a small smile. "That's really kind of you. But…what if we were friends and we just made sure nobody found out?"

"I don't know Hermione…" Draco said doubtfully.

"Come on, think about it. Crabbe and Goyle aren't exactly the smartest Slytherins around; I doubt they'd notice. And to be honest the same kind of goes for Harry and Ron."

Draco chuckled at that comment and nodded knowing she did have a point. "Well…if we were going to be friends I will still have to bully and insult you…and to be honest I really don't want to do that."

"And to be honest I really don't want you to do that either, but I understand that you have to," Hermione smiled. "And since we're friends now I'll know you don't mean anything you say."

"We'd have to make it believable that we hate each other though," Draco reminded her.

Both of them were silent for a moment before a grin slowly formed on Hermione's face. "I have an idea."

* * *

Draco, Crabbe and Pike all stared down at Hagrid's hut, ready to watch the spectacle of Buckbeak being executed. Well, that's why Crabbe and Pike were there anyway. Draco had a very different reason for being there which of course his two friends could never find out about. He didn't particularly want this plan to go ahead but if it stopped his father being suspicious of him then it would be worth it.

"Father said I can keep the hippogriff's head," Draco bragged to his friends. "I'll donate it to the Gryffindor's room."

Crabbe and Pike both laughed at this and Draco smirked slightly under his breath. The two of them really would believe anything.

Approaching footsteps behind them caused Crabbe to look round. "Oi, look who's here," he grinned.

Turning round Draco saw Hermione, Ron and Harry walking towards them, with Hermione leading and heading straight for Draco. The tiny little sparkle he could see in her eyes reassured him that what was about to happen was all part of the plan, and a tiny nod from him confirmed to Hermione that he would play along.

"Come to see the show?" Draco grinned cruelly.

"You!" Hermione cried out. "You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!"

Hermione walked right up to Draco with her wand out until he was backed right up against a huge boulder and Hermione's wand was pressing into his neck. Draco squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to make it look more real that Hermione was threatening him.

"Hermione, no!" Ron protested. "He's not worth it."

Hermione kept her wand where it was for a few more seconds before slowly lowering it. Draco opened his eyes again as Hermione started to turn away and he began to laugh. With no warning Hermione then whirled around and punched him right in the nose, causing his head to smack back into the boulder.

"Malfoy!" Crabbe cried, he and Pike helping Draco back to his feet before all three of them ran back towards the school.

"Not a word to anyone, understand?" Draco glared at both of them as they ran, to which they both nodded.

Just before they rounded a corner Draco stopped for a moment and glanced back down to where they had just been standing. Hermione was looking up at him too. They both smiled at each other for a split second before Draco continued running.

* * *

It had been a full day since the punching incident and Draco hadn't seen Hermione at all. Walking around the school grounds he wondered where she had been, but suddenly there was a huge commotion and what seemed like the entirety of 3rd year Gryffindor came running out of the school building. Ducking behind a wall he saw Potter pulling out a broomstick, and a very nice one at that. It must have been new – his Nimbus 2000 had been wrecked during the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff match easier that year. Trying not to tense up with jealous Draco watched as Harry shot up from the ground and began to wiz around the school grounds to the applause of his friends below.

"Draco."

Draco turned round at the sound of his name being hissed and spotted Hermione's head poking out from around a corner. She motioned for him to come over and he did, glancing around quickly to make sure nobody spotted them together.

"Is your nose okay?" Hermione asked immediately, looking rather guilty. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to hit it that hard."

Draco grinned. "Don't worry, it's fine," he promised. "It only popped out of place a little bit and Crabbe is surprisingly good at spells involving fixing things so he got it back to normal as soon as we got back to the common room."

Hermione smiled in relief. "I'm glad. I was really worried. I'm sorry I didn't get to see you yesterday. Harry and I…we were a bit busy."

Hermione looked down as she said this and Draco felt his stomach start to churn. Were Potter and Hermione…?

Hermione looked up at Draco and caught him frowning. Immediately she shook her head, her eyes wide. "No no no! Nothing like that!" she insisted. "We were doing a task for Dumbledore but we're not allowed to tell anyone else about it."

Draco sighed under his breath in relief. "Ah, okay. Sorry about that," he smiled.

Hermione smiled back. "So, did Crabbe and Pike believe you hate me then?"

"Yep, don't you worry about that," Draco replied. "I was trashing you in the common room all night."

Hermione kept smiling but Draco could see the sadness behind it. Without really thinking about it he took one of her hands in his and squeezed it gently.

"You know I wish I didn't have to do that, right?" Draco murmured.

Hermione nodded, smiling for real this time. "I know. I understand that you have to keep the act up, don't worry."

Draco nodded and squeezed Hermione's hand once more before letting it go, nodding over at the crowd of Gryffindors still cheering for Harry. "You should get over there before someone notices you're missing and wonders why you're not with them."

Hermione looked over at her classmates and nodded in agreement before she suddenly threw her arms around Draco and hugged him tightly. Letting go just as quickly she grinned once at Draco before running off to join her fellow Gryffindors leaving Draco standing in the corner, a mixture of both confusion and elation.

* * *

 **AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!**


	6. Columbine

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, this time I have a reeeeeeeeeeally good reason for why this took so long. I had placement at university PLUS I had a lot of medical stuff going on. BUT I'm on summer vacation now until September so I have no excuses not to write pretty much all the time now ^^**

 **Thank you to hoshiakari7, Neakco, daswhoiam, Stephanie and Angela for reviewing the last chapter! Especially Angela; you motivated me to get off my butt and finally write this chapter!**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter; please review!**

 **This chapter is dedicated to NeverRegretAnything, flomaxhug, luupitaoropeza, PopRockShawty (HEY GURL),** **angelaatang,** **zellewalnut and membridget.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I ain't J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 **Columbine**

Hermione gritted her teeth as she quickly followed Fred and Ginny through the throngs of panicked witches and wizards. How had it all gone so wrong so quickly? One minute she was having a great time with Harry, Ron and his family, and the next they were all running for their lives from a group of hooded figures making a mockery out of the Roberts family. What happened to the Quidditch World Cup being fun?

Being really worried about falling behind Harry and Ron, Hermione kept darting her head around like an owl, being sure to always keep them in her line of sight. Out of the corner of her eye however she spotted a flash of bright blonde hair. Spinning about she spotted a tall boy running away, caught up in the panic of the crowd. Despite everything going on around her she sighed. It wasn't Draco.

When Draco had been bragging about his excellent seats to them earlier he had kept shooting Hermione sly winks and grins when nobody had been looking, and it had been difficult for Hermione to stop her giggles. The two unlikely friends had managed to keep in touch over the summer, although Draco had to borrow Crabbe's owl to do so under the excuse that he was sending her prank letters. Luckily for both of them Draco's order to Crabbe that he was not to open any replies before Draco was able to read them had been followed to the letter, as Crabbe was still quite frightened of Draco and his father didn't want him to fall out with the Malfoy family.

Part of Hermione had wanted that flash of platinum she'd seen to be Draco running to find her and make sure she was safe. She knew it was a silly thing to hope for, and she was fairly certain that his father would have gotten Draco to safety the moment that any trouble broke out. He was almost certainly safe and that thought did make Hermione feel a little better.

That being said if she kept standing about then she wouldn't be safe herself, so shaking her head free of thoughts of Draco coming to rescue her Hermione looked around for Harry and Ron. Her heart started to beat a little faster when she realised she couldn't see them. Desperately looking around for any flash of red hair she began to panic. She'd lost them. She was lost.

Normally in a situation like this Hermione would have been able to remain calm and simply ask someone else for help. But right now everyone was running scared, and to make matters worse the masked figures were heading right towards her. Filled with terror Hermione bolted, heading right for the trees of the forest that surround what had been the Quidditch ground. If she could hide until they'd gone then she could find Harry and the Weasleys. No doubt once they regrouped and realised she was missing they'd go looking for her.

Practically tumbling down the hill towards the forest Hermione ducked behind a tree and squeezed her eyes shut, holding her breath for good measure. If those masked men found her… She shuddered. She didn't want to even think about what might happen.

"Hermione?"

Hermione's eyes shot open and she allowed herself to breathe again as Draco appeared before her. She'd never seen the Slytherin look more worried in the three year she'd known him as he did now.

"Draco? What are you doing here?" she hissed. "It isn't safe!"

Draco's eyes widened in disbelief before he rolled them slightly and grabbed hold of Hermione's hand. Without leaving her time to get embarrassed Draco was pulling her further into the forest and away from the chaos of the field behind them.

He finally came to a stop in a clearing of blue, yellow, red and lilac columbine flowers, but he didn't let go of her hand.

"It isn't safe?" he muttered under his breath before turning to face her. "It isn't safe?! It isn't safe for _you_ Hermione. It's muggle-borns they're looking for! You're the one who's in danger! Death Eaters don't believe that muggles or muggle-borns belong anywhere in this world."

"Wait, Death Eaters?" Hermione frowned. "The followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Draco nodded. "That's them, the people in the masks. Hermione, you're not safe here. You have to go-"

Before Draco could finish his sentence he was cut off by something behind Hermione. Hermione slowly turned around, afraid that the Death Eaters had found them, but she relaxed when she saw what had caught his attention. It was a group of fireflies.

Looking around them, the unlikely pair suddenly realised they were surrounded by the fireflies but had been too caught up in the situation to notice them.

"We must have startled them when we ran into the clearing…" Hermione murmured.

"Will they hurt us?" Draco asked quietly.

Hermione giggled slightly. "No, they're harmless. They're just…really pretty."

"Mmm…" Draco agreed.

Both of them seemed to realise at the same time that they were still holding hands as they both looked down at their entwined fingers at the same time. Their eyes meeting again they laughed nervously but smiled, forgetting the panic they'd been immersed in only moments ago for these few seconds of peace.

Hermione dipped her head down out of embarrassment but her eyes quickly rose again to meet Draco's when he gently placed his hand under her chin to tilt it back up. Their faces were so close… Close enough that Hermione could feel Draco's shaky breath hit her nose. If she just leaned a little closer…

But she couldn't.

She knew she couldn't. Draco's father would kill him. So once again Hermione dipped her head down and this time Draco made no effort to try and tilt her head back up. She heard him sigh slightly behind she felt a pressure on her forehead. Glancing up she smiled shyly as she realised their foreheads were now resting against each other's.

But of course this moment of peace couldn't last forever. An explosion from the field she had just fled made Hermione jump and the fear entered her heart once more.

"You need to go," Draco repeated his earlier statement but this time with more sadness than urgency.

"Yeah…you're right…" Hermione replied before squeezing his hand tightly. "Will you…?"

Draco smiled and nodded. "I'll be fine, I promise. You get back to your friends. I'll see you at school."

Hermione nodded back slowly before reluctantly letting go of Draco's hand. Smiling sadly one last time at him she turned around and headed back into the trees. When she turned around to look for him he was gone, but Hermione was confident that he was watching over her from somewhere. With that thought pushing her on Hermione carried back on through the trees to find the others and avoid the Death Eaters.

* * *

 **AN: I know this was really short but hopefully it was quite sweet. I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!**


	7. Snapdragon

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Look who's finally baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Dang I missed this story.**

 **This is probably the most sugary sweet thing I've ever written and I LOVE IT.**

 **Thank you to puresteph, daswhoiam, Angela, Neakco, Guest, 21coolbeansbro and Fawnfeather for reviewing the last chapter!**

 **ALSO TO THE GUEST REVIEW WHO IS READING THIS AND CHECKING ALL THE FLOWER MEANINGS, YAS BRO YOU ARE DOING THIS CORRECTLY WELL DONE!**

 **Anyways, I hope this is worth the wait!**

 **This chapter is dedicated to *cracks knuckles cause there's a lot of you lovely people for me to type* iplayviolin, daswhoiam, sweetoreopea, miel04, neverknowme, jessiemomo2247, jessie0017, vampire juhi, acorn is dotori, rcoach70, PrincessBellezza, Petit7Renard, N-MK07, 21coolbeansbro, Fawnfeather, Curiosity- Or n0t, BBaillie, Sachiko Heiwajima, gurmun, fitzpatrick kaitlin, geekykid123 and AlwaysMaraudersMap.**

 **Disclaimer: I ain't J.K. Rowling. If I was the The Cursed Child wouldn't have sucked so bad :-P**

* * *

 **Snapdragon**

Hermione sighed heavily as she watched the snowflakes dance down from the sky, the warmth from the library fire contradicting the cold she could see from outside. The Durmstrang ship was frozen in the Black Lake, but luckily they weren't planning on leaving until the end of the school year when the ice would have melted away.

Normally Hermione loved the snow. Winter had always been her favourite time of year; there was no pressure to go outside and play and she could always sit in her room at home and read to her heart's content. But this year for the first time, the young Gryffindor found herself wishing that the snow and cold would pass…because then the Yule Ball would be over.

Thinking of the dance once again made Hermione grumble under her breath. She was supposed to be researching ways that Harry could get through the next task in the Tri-Wizard Tournament but despite the fact that her best friend's life could very much depend on her findings she was having great difficulty staying motivated.

She knew that Ron was considering asking her, but she was seriously hoping that he wouldn't. Hermione cared a great deal about Ron but she wasn't interested in him like that in the slightest. She'd also heard rumours that Viktor Krum himself was thinking about asking her, and she had no idea what she would do in that situation. He seemed like a genuinely nice person and she wouldn't want to hurt his feelings - not to mention every other girl in the school would think she was absolutely crazy if she said no - but she really wasn't interested in him in that way either.

In fact, there was only one person she really wanted to go to the ball with…

"Hey Brainbox."

Snapping back to reality from her daydream, Hermione looked up and smiled warmly when her eyes met with Draco's.

"Hi Ferret," she replied fondly as Draco sat down on the window seat next to her.

Draco groaned. "Out of all the nicknames in the world you could possibly call me, does it really have to be Ferret?" he asked, shuddering slightly as he remembered what had happened when he'd angered Professor Moody.

"Call it punishment for those awful badges you've been handing out," Hermione smirked.

Draco hung his head. "Oh come on, they were pretty funny."

"Draco, Harry's my best friend," Hermione stated simply. "Be nice."

"But I don't want to," Draco whined, grinning to let Hermione know he was just joking around with her.

Hermione gently pushed him in fake annoyance, trying and failing to hold back a smile.

The two had continued to meet in secret ever since their encounter at the Quidditch World Cup. The first time they'd seen each other at school had been rather awkward for them both, as they were very much aware of how close they'd come to taking their relationship to the next level, but after a silly joke from Draco and a laugh from Hermione the awkwardness had quickly been overcome. They often met in the library when it was late in the day, or in the corridor leading to the Hufflepuff common room as not many of their classmates would ever see them there. As such a couple of Hufflepuff first years had spotted them, but they'd all sworn to keep it secret in exchange for Hermione helping them with their homework.

"So what're you doing here anyway?" Draco asked, eyeing all the books Hermione had open around her. "Looking for stuff to help Potter with the next task?"

"Exactly," Hermione sighed, "but I can't stay focused tonight…"

"What's wrong?" Draco frowned, shuffling slightly closer to her.

"It's silly…but I keep thinking about the Yule Ball," she sighed.

"The ball? I wouldn't have thought you would be too bothered about that to be honest," Draco admitted.

Hermione cracked a smile. "Yeah, I know. But see…back at my old school we would have dances every Christmas, and I never ever got invited by anyone in my class. Nobody wants to take the bookworm to the ball," she murmured sadly. "I guess that now I'm at Hogwarts and I'm around other people like me, I'd really like to experience that at least once. But…"

"…But?" Draco prompted her.

"…But I don't have anyone to go with," she confessed. "Ron's thinking of asking me but I don't feel that way about him. Viktor Krum is apparently thinking of asking me but I don't feel that way about him either."

"…Is there anyone you do feel _that way_ about?" Draco asked softly, both anticipating and fearing the answer.

Hermione slowly looked up and met his gentle gaze. She could feel her heartbeat thudding in her chest and she was terrified that Draco might be able to hear it.

"…You know that there is," she replied, somehow managing to keep her eyes locked with his even though every instinct in her body was screaming at her to drop her gaze back down to the floor. "…But you also know why I can't go with that person."

Draco's shoulders dropped and he sighed slightly, nodding in defeat. It was true; he did know. And he knew that he was the reason. If they were to go to the ball together Hermione wouldn't really face any repercussions other than Potter and Weasley bombarding her with questions, but they'd probably both accept it pretty quickly and just keep a very close eye on both of them.

He on the other hand… Draco winced as he felt pain flash through the scars on his back at the memory of what his father would do if he upset him again. Going to the Yule Ball with a Muggle-born was out of the question and both he and Hermione knew it, despite what they both wished.

"If only the ball wasn't at Hogwarts," Hermione mused. "If the tournament had been held at Drumstang or Beauxbatons and we'd both gone we probably could have gone to the ball without anyone from back here finding out."

"If nobody was going to recognise us that would be perfect," Draco agreed.

The two were cut off suddenly when they heard footsteps approaching. Ready to move away from Hermione so their cover wasn't blown, Draco was stopped by Hermione when she realised the voices she could hear were speaking in French.

"They're from Beauxbatons," she said quietly. "We don't have to hide from them."

Draco nodded and relaxed next to her again as the two young ladies in blue walked past them without paying them any mind.

Suddenly one of them stopped. " _Non non._ We must speak in English, Madame Maxine says. We must get better English."

The other one sighed but nodded. "Yes, okay. Then I tell you again in English. Viktor Krum is not going to Yule Ball unless Harry Potter friend go with him."

Hermione and Draco's eyes widened as they continued to listen to this conversation.

"So if this girl say _non_ , Viktor not go?" the first girl asked.

"Yes, that is what Fleur say to me," her friend confirmed before they both walked away, complaining that there would be less eye candy if Viktor didn't go.

Draco began to chuckle as he looked back at Hermione. "Seems like you have a duty to go with Viktor now, or else you'll have every French girl in the castle after you."

Hermione's head dropped into her hands. "I hate this… Why does he like me so much? I've barely spoken to him!"

"Are you serious? You're probably the prettiest girl in Hogwarts," Draco stated matter-of-factly.

Hermione's face began to burn bright red at how easy it was for Draco to say that, but she tried to not focus on the compliment.

"What do I do now?" she asked. "I really don't want to go if…if I can't go with you…"

Now it was Draco's turn to be embarrassed but as he stared at the winter sun's light shining off of Hermione's hair an idea dawned on him that took away the awkwardness.

"Hermione…I think I have a way that we can go to the ball together," he said slowly.

Hermione's head snapped around and her eyes were wide with hope. "Really? How?"

A slow smile spread across Draco's face. "…Do you think there's any way we could get hold of some of Viktor's hair?"

* * *

Draco paced the floor outside of the Great Hall nervously. He felt very uncomfortable in this red suit rather than dress robes but if this was the price he needed to pay in order to dance with Hermione then he would take it.

Thanks to the Time-Turner that Hermione still had and had sworn Draco to secrecy about and Hermione giving Viktor a very awkward pat on the shoulder after she'd politely said no to his proposal for them to go to the ball together, the Slytherin and the Gryffindor had managed to brew a Polyjuice Potion so Draco could be Viktor Krum for the night. Once they'd confirmed that Viktor was planning on moping in the Drumstrang ship all night in a huff because of Hermione rejecting him the pieces of their plan all started to fall into place, and they'd both decided to just let Viktor deal with the fallout of his friends asking about how he enjoyed the night. He'd be confused but that wouldn't be their problem; they were too excited about the fact that they got to spend the night together at the ball. The only thing Draco didn't know about was what Hermine was going to wear as she'd wanted that to stay a surprise.

Draco had already been approached by Professor McGonagall who'd said she was pleasantly surprised that he'd decided to come after all, but other than that nobody had spoken to him. A few Drumstrang boys had walked past him and raised an eyebrow but they'd been too distracted by their dates to ask him what he was doing there.

Potter and Weasley were currently walking towards him down the stairs – and Weasley looked completely ridiculous in his old-fashioned dress robes – and he tensed up automatically when he realised they would see him walking in and dancing with Hermione, but then he remembered that all they could see was Viktor, not Draco, and he relaxed again. They were going with the Patil twins and Draco actually felt rather sorry for the girls and neither Potter nor Weasley looked like they were going to enjoy themselves.

Then Draco watched one of the twins gasp and look up to the top of the stairs. "She looks beautiful…" she murmured.

Draco's eyes turned to the stairs at the same time as Potter's did, and he felt his heart skip a beat. It was Hermione and she looked absolutely stunning. Her periwinkle-blue dress robes cascaded down her like a waterfall, and her hair was pinned up into a twisted knot at the back of her head with just a few strands down to frame her face. Her eyes met with Draco's and she smiled shyly, holding his gaze as she continued to walk down the stairs.

As she finally stood in front of him Draco wished he could say something to her, but he couldn't manage Viktor's Bulgarian accent. Knowing that if he spoke Potter, Weasley and the Patil twins would realise something wasn't quite right he simply gave her a little bow and offered her his arm. Hermione giggled slightly and took it, waving slightly at Harry as they walked towards the entrance to the Great Hall, falling in line along with Fleur, Rodger, Cedric and Cho. Hermione glanced behind her one last time to grin at Harry and Parvati before the doors opened and the four couples walked into the hall to the applause of their fellow students. Hermione just started laughing with pure joy; she was so happy that she was here with Draco and she didn't care if everyone else saw her with Viktor instead. She was going to enjoy tonight and nothing could stop her.

* * *

After a few hours of dancing together Draco gently took hold of Hermione's hand and led her out of the Great Hall. The two of them kept glancing at each other and giggling as they headed towards the gardens.

"Draco, are you okay?" Hermione asked, after checking that there was nobody around.

"I'm fine," Draco nodded, finally able to speak properly for the first time that night. "But you said the Polyjuice potion would only work for two hours, right? It's nearly 10 o'clock and I didn't want to risk anyone seeing me change back."

"Oh right. Clever!" Hermione smiled before she started to laugh again.

"What is it?" Draco asked, frowning.

"You _are_ starting to change back," she giggled. "Your hair is going blonde."

Draco looked down at his hands and saw that they were shrinking back down to their normal size. He knew that the dress robes he was wearing would soon practically engulf him but he was planning on sneaking back into his room without anyone seeing him, then he'd return the Drumstrang robes the next morning.

Hermione stopped laughing once Draco was completely back to normal and just smiled again. "I do wish we could have gone together normally," she admitted softly.

"I do too," Draco agreed, taking hold of Hermione's hand and squeezing it slightly.

Draco slowly led Hermione to one of the stone benches that were dotted around the garden and they both sat down. Draco pulled his wand out and murmured something under his breath, Hermione watching as a beautiful bouquet of snapdragon flowers appeared in his other hand.

"They're enchanted so they won't wilt," Draco smiled as her handed the flowers to her, putting his wand back in his pocket.

"Oh Draco…they're beautiful," she breathed, taking in all the beautiful colours of the flowers.

"…Nowhere near as beautiful as you," Draco replied after a pause.

Hermione's eyes slowly rose to meet with his once more, her heart speeding up again. This time she was sure Draco would be able to hear it but she didn't care.

Draco tucked one of the loose strands of hair around Hermione's face back behind her ear before resting his hand on her cheek.

"I wanted to wait till I changed back to normal to do this," he murmured, his voice lower and more husky than normal, making Hermione shiver as he moved closer to her. "I don't think I can wait any more."

Hermione swallowed slightly in nervousness, still keeping her eyes locked with his. "…Then don't," she replied shakily.

Draco smiled softly before he allowed their noses to touch…and then slowly he brought his lips to meet Hermione's. Hermione kissed him back, softly and slowly and full of fear but also excitement. Draco's other hand rested gently on Hermione's waist and Hermione brought one hand up to Draco's cheek, the other resting on his knee, the snapdragons lying on the bench behind her forgotten for the moment.

It was exactly how they'd both imagined it.

* * *

 **AN: Hope that makes up for how long this bloody took!**

 **Also if you like Dramione Yule Ball cuteness then feel free to check out my completely unrelated to this story Yule Ball oneshot I've written called First Name :3**

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	8. Periwinkle

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I really wanted to update this today, and as my first update of 2017 I wanted it to be cute :3 So here is some pretty much plotless fun and fluff ^^**

 **Thank you to Neakco, daswhoiam, Fawnfeather, puresteph and the two guests for reviewing the last chapter!**

 **This chapter is dedicated to AlleyJax, Annie0801, CauldronWalnut, Mb2001, zuzz, kimberlie nguyenucd, DemigodsandDragons, Red Hooded Angel, keyleighnik, esnowierose, CookieMonsterAddict, ciscisj, The-blue-eyed-dreamer and Brewing Glory.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, our glorious leader J.K. Rowling does.**

* * *

 **Periwinkle**

Hermione fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, glancing around to look for any sign of the person she was waiting for. It was strange being in Diagon Alley when it was this quiet; she'd come to relate the place to the usual hustle and bustle that happened at the start of every school year, but as it was only the start of the summer holidays there weren't many people around.

Looking down at her watch Hermione bit her lip. He should be here by now…

Hermione was worried. What if his father had found out? What if he was in trouble? What if-

"Hermione?"

Hermione squeaked in surprise and spun around to see Draco standing right behind her with a cheeky grin.

"Don't scare me like that!" Hermione pouted.

"Sorry," Draco chuckled, not looking sorry in the slightest.

Draco and Hermione had managed to arrange an opportunity for them to meet during the holidays, with Draco's parents under the impression that he was with Goyle, and Hermione's parents believing she was with the Weasleys. Neither of them were altogether comfortable about lying to their parents, but given how the school year – and the Triwizard Tournament – had ended, neither of them wanted to go the full summer without seeing the other.

Hermione had been very shaken by Cedric Diggory's death, more so than Draco might have expected. She hadn't been close with him, but the fact that somebody had actually died in the tournament had frightened her greatly. Every night from the night he died up until the end of term, both of them had snuck out to the grounds to the bench where they'd had their first kiss so Draco could comfort Hermione, nightmares haunting her for quite a while. They'd been lucky that neither of them had been caught, but they were starting to care less and less if people found out about them. Well, people at school anyway. They both knew that if Draco's parents discovered their relationship then all hell would break loose. But luckily Draco's father had seemed distracted lately so he hopefully wouldn't look into his claim that he was with Goyle.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked Hermione, brushing a few strands of hair off of her forehead.

Hermione blushed and nodded. "I'm fine. Are you? Your dad still acting weird?"

Draco sighed slightly. "Yeah…I really don't know what's going on. Mother's getting worried too now I think. But today isn't about them," he smiled. "What do you want to do today?"

A grin spread over Hermione's face. "Well, I was thinking…"

* * *

A few minutes later and the pair were sitting in the window seat of Rosa Lee Teabag with a butterbeer each, the same teashop they'd gone to together on the day they met.

"It seems like a lifetime ago we were last in here…" Hermione mused.

"The day we were buying supplies for Hogwarts," Draco nodded. "Four years ago… That's quite frightening when you think about it."

"And now we're going into our fifth year. It's our OWLs this year," Hermione bit her lip.

"Hey," Draco leant over and lightly tapped Hermione's nose. "No exam talk, come on. It's only the start of the holidays."

Hermione giggled and nodded. "Okay, fair enough," she grinned, taking a sip of her butterbeer.

Draco chuckled as Hermione brought her glass away from her mouth and she had froth from her drink on her nose. Pulling his wand out he flicked his wrist and the froth jumped from her nose into the air, took the form of a tiny bird and then plopped back into her glass. Hermione laughed as she watched before her eyes fell on Draco's wand.

"Hey, can I see that for a second?" she asked slowly.

Draco was slightly confused at her request but handed his wand over regardless. Hermione studied it carefully, turning it over in her hands before looking back up at Draco. "What kind of wood is it?"

"Hawthorn," he replied. "10 inches, with a-"

"-Unicorn hair core," Hermione finished his sentence.

Draco frowned. "Y…yeah… How did you know that?"

"Because I know this wand," she murmured. "Mr Ollivander gave me this wand to try when I was buying my wand back before first year, the day we met. When I held it…I felt something. This strange warmth glowing in my chest. When I tried another wand that wasn't mine I felt nothing, but this one, your one, felt different. But when I tried to use it," she giggled, "I set something on fire." Passing the wand back to Draco she smiled. "That's kind of weird though, don't you think? That your wand felt special to me before I even met you?"

Draco was shocked. He had no idea what to say. He'd heard stories about wizarding soul mates and how their wands resonated with the other person, but he'd never known if it was true. And he wasn't about to tell Hermione this because he didn't want to freak her out. But…if those stories were true and Hermione had felt something when she'd held his wand…maybe they were meant to be together…

With that thought spreading butterflies through his stomach, Draco smiled into his butterbeer. "It is kind of weird…" he agreed with Hermione, "but a good kind of weird."

* * *

"Where are we going?"

Draco grinned as he pulled Hermione into a quiet corner of the alley. "Do you trust me?" he asked quietly.

Hermione looked up into his eyes and smiled softly, nodding. "Of course I do."

Draco squeezed her hand gently and smiled back before pulling her into a small shop Hermione had never noticed before. There wasn't much in there except from a few dusty boxes and a large fireplace which Draco ushered Hermione to stand in. Taking a handful of powder from a pot next to the fireplace he smiled down at Hermione again. "Cover your ears," he murmured.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Because I want it to be a surprise," Draco grinned. "You did say you trust me."

Hermione giggled slightly. She did trust Draco so she obliged and covered her ears, leaning into Draco's chest as he threw the Floo powder down and the two of them were engulfed in green flames.

All of a sudden the two found themselves standing in a different fireplace in what looked like a small cottage somewhere. Sunlight was streaming in through the window and Hermione looked back up at Draco as she took her hands away from her ears. "Where are we?" she asked.

Draco stepped out of the fireplace and offered his hand to Hermione so she could join him. "It's a cottage my mother used to take me to when I was younger. She helped me learn some spells here so I had a head start at school. Father never came with us; we only ever came here when he was at work."

"It's so sweet," Hermione smiled, looking around the cottage. It was furnished simply with a wooden table and chairs, comfortable looking sofas around the fireplace and a coatrack next to the front door. A smaller door to their left presumably lead to a kitchen and stairs next to the fireplace led up to a second floor.

"Mother created this place using magic, but she didn't want it to be lavish," Draco explained, looking around the room with a fondness. "I haven't been here in years…"

After a few moments of silence Draco squeezed Hermione's hand and started to lead her to the front door, Hermione eagerly following after him. Opening the front door, Hermione gasped in delight. The garden in front of the house was peppered with white periwinkle flowers and the grounds themselves stretched out as far as the eye could see.

"Draco…it's beautiful," Hermione breathed.

Draco smiled. "It is… I've really missed this place."

Hermione looked up at him before smiling and plopping herself down in the middle of the periwinkles.

"Um…Hermione?" Draco chuckled. "What are you doing?"

"Come on, it's fun," she grinned, patting the ground next to her. Draco rolled his eyes but relented and sat next to her, Hermione immediately resting her head on his shoulder while Draco gently pressed his lips to the top of her head.

The two sat there in comfortable silence for a while, Draco gently rubbing his thumb over Hermione's knuckles while the sun warmed them with birdsong in the distance. At one point Hermione stretched before lying down on her back, staring up at the sky with a small smile. Draco looked down at her and the two locked eyes as Draco slowly lay down next to her.

Hermione blushed slightly as she saw the way Draco was looking at her. "…What is it?" she mumbled.

Draco smiled as he rolled over onto his side. "You really are beautiful Hermione…"

Hermione's face now turned bright red as she swallowed heavily, slowly turning onto her side so she mirrored Draco. Looking down shyly, she carefully shuffled closer to Draco before pressing her lips to his. Draco was pleasantly surprised that she'd made the first move this time and wove his fingers into her hair as he kissed her back.

"…You're the beautiful one," Hermione murmured as she pulled back slightly, still looking slightly embarrassed.

Draco chuckled under his breath. "Looks like we're on equal ground then."

Hermione smiled before kissing Draco again. The two stayed there for most of the afternoon.

But what they didn't see was Narcissa Malfoy appear for a brief moment in the window of the cottage.

* * *

 **AN: OOOOOOOOOOOO BET Y'ALL DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter anyways ^^ Please review!**


	9. Yellow Rose

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Happy (late) birthday Steph! :3**

 **The rest of you have my friend Steph to thank for this fic as she asked me to write the original one-shot that turned into this! I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **Thank you to SereniteRose, Neakco, daswhoiam, Nyx and two guest reviewers for reviewing the last chapter.**

 **This chapter is dedicated to bigred20, sheboom, The17o, Dusks Angel, Bronowyn, hungergameshgfan, Kitsune Jack, Stavroula G, vdaniels20, mariannagkolfou, anti anti and PrettyPrincess1616.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. Duh.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9 – Yellow Rose**

Hermione started nervously thumbing through the book on her lap, exchanging worried glances with Ron as the two of them sat down in the train carriage next to Harry. It had been a tense few days, with Harry only just finding out about the Order of the Phoenix and then his trial. Both she and Ron were really worried about their best friend, and it didn't help that he didn't even acknowledge when they sat next to him; he just continued to stare out of the window as stiff as a board.

At first Ron and Hermione tried to just chat like normal, about their families, what they'd done over the summer, who could possibly be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts _this_ year, and at first they did try to include Harry in the conversation, but when it became abundantly clear that he wasn't going to be saying a word it eventually became awkward and they both fell into uncomfortable silence.

After a while Ron excused himself, having to go and find Ginny to ask her if their mum had packed his Gryffindor scarf along with hers as he couldn't find it, so Hermione opened up her book to pass the time with reading. Unexpectedly, the pages fluttered open on a dried and pressed flower she'd hidden between the pages. She tried her best, and failed completely, to hide a smile at the sight of it. It was a white periwinkle that she'd picked from the garden of the cottage Draco had taken her to during the summer.

Although she had exchanged stories of what she'd been up to during the summer with Ron, she had very deliberately left out the time she spent with Draco. She cared deeply for both Ron and Harry, and she knew they cared about her, but she also knew they wouldn't understand her feelings for Draco. They both clearly saw him as an enemy, and after what Harry had told them both about how Draco's father had been with the Dark Lord on the night Cedric Digory was killed, that would now be even more prevalent.

Hermione trusted Draco completely, and while some may think that made her rather foolish, she was confident that if he himself was connected to anything to do with Voldemort, he would tell her. And she also knew that just because his father may be a Death Eater, that did not in any way mean Draco was too. The worst part of this all for Hermione was that she now had to keep her relationship with Draco a secret from her best friends for even longer. After such a wonderful summer, she had hoped that maybe she could be honest with them, but now she knew that may not be the case for a very long time.

Sighing heavily, she witfully ran her fingers along the petals of the small white flower. She saw Harry's eyes dart over at her, the first real movement he'd made since she and Ron had entered the carriage, but she didn't panic and shut the book over. It was just a flower after all; Harry would have no idea where it came from. As such she just looked up at him and smiled softly. He held her gaze for a moment before looking back out of the window, resting his forehead against the window. Hermione sighed again, this time for a totally different reason, before closing her book over as Ron slid the door back open.

"Did Ginny have it?" Hermione asked as Ron shut the door behind him.

"She thinks so," he replied. "It'll be in her trunk though so she'll have to wait until she unpacks."

He sat down next to her and looked purposefully over at Harry before looking back at Hermione. She just shrugged and shook her head, causing Ron to sigh with worry.

He wasn't alone; Hermione was worried too.

* * *

Just as they stepped off the train, Hermione's eye widened.

"You two go ahead, I've left my book!" she called to Ron and Harry before darting back onto the train.

Quickly running down the train she soon reached where she had been sitting with Harry and Ron, and her face broke into a smile when she realised somebody else was there.

"What're you doing here?" she whispered, slipping into the carriage and closing the door behind her.

Draco grinned as he closed her book over, standing up as the door shut. "Why are you whispering? There's nobody else here."

"You can never really tell that with people at this school," Hermione reasoned, but speaking normally now.

"True," Draco replied, passing her book back to her before wrapping his arms around her waist. "I missed you," he murmured softly.

Hermione looped her arms around his neck, making sure she wasn't accidently hitting him with the book. "I missed you too," she smiled before stretching up to kiss him.

It was a short but soft kiss, and as they broke apart they rested their foreheads together.

"We should go," Draco said quietly. "They'll be sweeping the train soon to make sure nobody's still here. Plus Crabbe and Goyle are waiting for me."

"Mmm," Hermione agreed with a nod, looking down slightly and feeling her heart sinking with the knowledge that this could potentially be their last intimate moment until the Christmas holidays.

Draco knew what she was thinking and kissed her on the forehead. "I know," he whispered, "but it'll be okay."

Hermione nodded again before the two separated. Leaving the carriage they went separate ways, Draco kissing Hermione's hand before they did so, causing her to laugh before she ran back to the door she'd entered in. To her surprise Ron and Harry were still there.

"You didn't need to wait for me," she said, but still happy that they did.

"It wasn't a big deal," Ron smiled, Harry shrugging next to him in indifference.

As the three of them turned to walk towards the carriages to take them up to the school, Hermione heard a familiar voice approaching them from behind, but with a lot more venom in it than she'd been getting used to.

"I'm surprised the Ministry's still letting you walk around free Potter!" Draco called as he appeared next to them with Crabbe and Goyle at his side. "You'd better enjoy it while you can. I expect there's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it."

Harry lunged forwards as if he was going to punch him, but Ron grabbed him and held him back. Draco shot a quick apologetic glance at Hermione before rolling his eyes at Crabbe and Goyle and walking away. "What'd I tell you? Complete nutter."

"Just stay away from me!" Harry shouted after them, the first words he'd said since they'd gotten on the train.

"It's only Malfoy. What'd you expect," Ron said quickly, trying to calm him down as he let go of him.

Hermione stayed quiet as they walked up to the carriages. She hated this, but she knew Draco had to keep up appearances. Plus she knew he really didn't like Harry so he wasn't exactly lying, which did make her uncomfortable but she'd come to accept it. Every time they were able to meet though he always apologised for whatever he'd said, knowing that it upset her too.

Watching a carriage pulling Cho Chang and her friends depart for the castle, Hermione heard another one approaching behind them with only one person on it.

"What it is?" Harry murmured, looking up as if something was in front of the carriage.

"What's what?" Ron asked as he, Hermione and Neville, who'd joined them, turned around.

"That, pulling the carriage," Harry replied.

Hermione frowned in worry. "…Nothing's pulling the carriage Harry," she replied. "It's pulling itself like always."

Harry continued to stare as if something was there as he made his way to the steps of the carriage.

"You're not going mad. I can see them too. You're just as sane as I am."

Hermione's gaze moved to the figure already sitting in the carriage, and she sighed under her breath when she realised who it was.

It wasn't that Hermione disliked Luna Lovegood, she was just…a little odd. She always seemed to be away in a world of her own.

As the four of them climbed up into the carriage it became clear that none of the boys knew who she was, so Hermione decided to introduce her to them.

"Everyone, this is Loony-"

Hermione stopped herself, mortified that she'd used the rather cruel nickname she'd heard others in the Gryffindor common room use to describe Luna.

"…Luna Lovegood," she finished quietly, her face bright red.

Luna didn't seem affected, simply smiling round at the others, but Hermione was incredibly embarrassed. In an attempt to mend the damage she looked back up at Luna and smiled. "What an interesting necklace," she said.

Luna looked down at it. "It's a charm actually," she replied before leaning in as if she was going to tell a big secret. "It keeps away the Nargles." Everyone in the carriage either looked confused or uncomfortable as she continued, "Hungry… I hope there's pudding."

As she went back to reading her newspaper upside-down, Ron whispered to Hermione, "What're Nargles?"

"No idea," she replied quietly.

Luna looked back over at Hermione and smiled again. "You're holding on very tightly to that book," she noticed.

Hermione looked down at the book before looking back up at the Ravenclaw. "Yes, I nearly left it on the train."

"Is it important?" Luna asked.

"The book? Not particularly," Hermione replied honestly.

"Oh, I see. I thought perhaps that boy from Slytherin had given it to you," Luna smiled kindly before looking back at the newspaper.

Hermione's eyes flew open as Harry, Ron and Neville all stared at her.

"…What boy from Slytherin?" Ron asked, frowning.

Hermione opened her mouth but her mind went blank. Before she could actually say anything Luna piped up again. "Draco Malfoy. You know, the boy Hermione likes."

"You must be confused," Ron replied. "Hermione doesn't like Malfoy. None of us like him in the slightest."

"No, I'm not confused," Luna shook her head. "They've been close ever since I came to Hogwarts. I actually thought maybe Hermione was in lo-"

"I'm going to walk!" Hermione cut Luna off before grabbing her bag and jumping out of the carriage. She managed to land on her feet and ran into the trees before the others could follow her.

Leaning against a tree, Hermione held the book even more tightly to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut as a few tears escaped. She couldn't believe that had just happened…

Of course she knew Luna hadn't meant to harm her in any way; she didn't think Luna had a malicious bone in her body. But regardless, her secret was out now. There probably wasn't a believable way to explain away what Luna had said. Harry and Ron, and also Neville, now knew her secret and she was terrified she'd not only lost her two best friends, but also that the rest of the school may now find out.

Hermione's eyes flew open as she realised what that could mean for Draco. She had to warn him, and get to the three boys before they told anyone else.

Knowing there was no way to catch up to the carriage now no matter how fast she ran, she took a few deep breaths and began walking along the pathway at a fairly brisk pace; Professor McGonagall wouldn't accept any excuses for being late to the feast and she didn't need to get detention on top of everything else that had happened tonight.

Hermione had realised that she, the boys and Luna had been in the last carriage so she wasn't expecting to see anybody. So the sight of the small blonde girl sitting next to a tree slightly further along the road than she had jumped out at was a surprise.

"…Luna?" Hermione called out.

Luna looked up and smiled slightly, standing up and brushing some mud from her skirt. "Hello Hermione," she greeted her pleasantly before her face fell slightly. "I wanted to say I was sorry. I didn't realise that you and Draco were keeping a secret, or else I'd never have said anything."

"No, I understand that," Hermione nodded, managing to crack a smile back at the younger girl. "I know you weren't trying to get us in trouble or anything."

Luna tilted her head slightly. "If you don't mind me asking though, why are you hiding it?"

Hermione looked down at her shoes and sighed heavily. "…Draco's family are pure-blood fanatics, especially his father. They'd never accept him being with a Muggle-born. He has to keep up appearances at school too so word doesn't get back to his father, so he has to act like a bully."

"…That's really horrible," Luna said softly, reaching out and gently taking hold of Hermione's hand. "I know this won't be much consolation but I promise I won't tell anyone else. And Harry, Ron and Neville also said they wouldn't tell anyone. I'm sure you can trust them."

Hermione's smile grew slightly at Luna's kind words. "Thank you Luna. And…I'm sorry I called you Loony Lovegood earlier."

Luna just shrugged. "It's okay, almost everyone calls me that."

Hermione shook her head, squeezing Luna's hand. "No, it isn't okay. You're wonderful Luna, and I'm so sorry if I've ever made you upset by not standing up for you when others called you that. I promise I'll never do that again."

Luna's eyes lit up slightly. "So…we're friends?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, we're friends."

Luna nodded happily, before she held out a small bunch of flowers she'd kept hidden behind her back this whole time. They were yellow roses, smaller than normal ones and without the thorns. "These were to say sorry for telling your secret," Luna explained.

Hermione smiled properly and took the flowers from Luna. "They're beautiful, thank you."

The girls smiled at each other before dropping hands and walking back towards the castle.

"Can I ask you a question?" Hermione said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Of course," Luna replied.

"…How did you find out about Draco and I?" she asked quietly.

Luna smiled softly. "Well, I noticed how you acted around each other. It wasn't very often I saw you together, but after Cedric died last year I saw you two together a few times at a bench in the castle grounds. I thought maybe you were just friends but then at the beginning of the summer I saw you both at Diagon Alley and I realised it was more than that. I know love when I see it; you two remind me of how my parents used to act around each other."

Hermione remembered that Luna's mother had passed away when she was younger. She smiled in sympathy before she stopped walking, realising what Luna had said. What she had nearly said in the carriage before Hermione had ran away.

"Wait…love?" she stammered slightly.

Luna looked back at her. "Well…don't you love Draco?"

Hermione looked back down at the book containing the dried periwinkle. Her heart began to beat faster as the realisation dawned on her, and a smile once again started to grow on her face.

"…Yes, I do," she murmured quietly, knowing that Luna could hear her.

"I told you," Luna smiled. "Are you going to tell him?"

"Maybe not quite yet," Hermione laughed nervously. "I think first I still have to deal with what Harry and Ron are going to say about all of this."

"That seems fair," Luna nodded in agreement before looking back up at the castle. "We should hurry, or there won't be any pudding left."

Hermione laughed again, this time much more relaxed, before nodding in agreement. "Alright, let's go then."

The two girls walked quickly up to the castle to get ready for the feast, Hermione's newly found realisation causing her to continue smiling for the rest of the evening.

But it was hard for her to ignore Ron's eyes staring daggers at her for the entire length of the feast.

* * *

 **AN: Can you tell I adore Luna? :3**

 **Hope you enjoyed this! Please review!**


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